for us while the cost of insurance is a HUGE consideration, their delivery of services are a top priority as well.
before becoming a homeowner I just had renters and auto-went with the same company my parents had for years (AAA). might have stayed with them when we bought our first home but I had a horrendous experience with them on an auto claim. our decision on who to consider for homeowners happened a few months before we bought our first home 23 years ago-we lived in northern California and were watching news coverage of the Oakland hills fires. there were people in evacuation centers-and only a couple of insurance companies had reps there, who were writing checks to their claimants to get them into temporary housing
we shopped both those companies to get coverage.
we were with the same company for years-then when we moved to another state we shopped and found better rates with another (still awesome customer service-including dealing with a roof collapse that required major reconstruction and temporary housing). about a year ago when dd went to get her driver's license I was disappointed at how much our auto premiums would go up-so I called around and ended up back with our original company where their regular rates plus our multi policy discounts (life, auto, home) made a HUGE difference.
I've never used a broker-I prefer an agent in a brick and mortar location in my town. they know their own product inside out and upside down-also they seem to do a good job of getting to know their customers, and I will get an occasional call or e-mail from mine asking if they are correct that someone (usually me
) has had a recent birthday that qualifies me for an older person discount, or they noted that some public works project (like a recent fire house completion near us) qualified us for a rate decrease.
one thing I would suggest is before you shop-make a list of anything that may make your home different from a basic house because certain odd little things can qualify for reductions-in one home we owned it was the security system, a fire hydrant in front, and that when we landscaped we did some special grading and put in a drainage system for the yards. with our current home it's how we've landscaped (for fire prevention), and the proximity of the fire house. another suggestion-look to see how much more replacement value coverage and temporary housing adds b/c it can be well worth it. when our roof collapsed we ended up (like many others in our area during that storm) in a hotel-but all our lodging, meals and other 'temporary housing' expenses were covered (including getting some clothes and school supplies for the kids that we couldn't grab before we left). for some things replacement value isn't a big deal-often electronics go down in price, but other things like my kid's video games absent that coverage would only be covered at what they could sell it for to gamestop or at a garage sale when in reality to replace many would cost triple what they paid for them new.
When the insurance carrier jacks up my premium, I call around to insurance brokers (not agents who only sell for one company) and ask them to find me a good deal. It seems that the days of loyalty to customers are long gone, and I stayed with one company far too long and overpaid. My former agent is an old friend and understood completely why I changed.
